Marielle Hawke
Marielle "Mari" Hawke (born 9:08 Dragon) is the adopted sister of the Champion of Kirkwall, Astrid Hawke. Appearance and Personality As an adoptee into the Hawke family, Marielle doesn't look much like the rest of the family. Her dark skin and brown eyes reveal her Rivaini heritage, and she has short black hair, which she typically wears in braids. While Marielle shares her sister's since of humor, it comes with a significant dose of anger and much less hedonism than Astrid possesses. She's often frustrated with her sister's drinking habit, promiscuity, and her inability to take anything remotely seriously. Marielle believes in the responsible use of magic, but she also believes that mages should be free of the Chantry and sees the Circle system as an abusive one. She only uses her own blood magic as a last resort, and grew to hate it after Leandra was murdered. Talents and Skills Marielle is very skilled in both the Primal and Spirit schools of magic, with her lightning spells being particularly powerful. She also has rather powerful frost attacks. While Marielle possesses blood magic, she rarely uses it, and is generally very careful when she does. She only took on blood magic in the first place because she was desparate to protect herself when she was a street urchin in Highever. Biography Early Life Marielle is the daughter of a Riviani seer and an Antivan ship captain. Her mother eloped with her father, but he ended up abandoning her in Highever. Her mother ended up taking up a job as an herbalist and a healer in Highever. Unfortunately, the wrong person caught her practicing healing magic and alerted the Templars to her presence, who raided her clinic. Knowing she'd be separated from her daughter if she allowed herself to be taken away, Marielle's mother fought back, and the Templars killed her before taking Marielle to a Chantry orphanage. Marielle hated it there and ran away when she was nine. She was cornered in a back alley by a man with...less than noble intentions and ended up setting him on fire, showing that she had inherited the magic of her mother. Terrified that the Templars would kill her like they killed her mother, she tried desparately to hide her powers and resorted to begging to avoid showing her magic again. While Marielle was starving, sleeping in a back alley, she was offered a way to defend herself if she used it to kill the Templars. Eager to have a way to protect herself and take revenge on the people who had killed her mother, Marielle accepted, and was given the "gift" of blood magic. She turned it on a pair of Templars patrolling the streets and killed them. Horrified by what she had done, she ran away and didn't use it for another two years, when she was eleven. That's when she was kidnapped by a group of slavers from Tevinter, who knocked her out and locked her in a cage along with a thirteen-year-old Astrid Hawke, who had been kidnapped while exploring the Alienage. The two girls agreed to escape together, and Astrid managed to pick the lock on their cage. The girls were caught by one of the guards. In an act of desparation, Marielle turned her blood magic on the man, killing him in the process. Unfortunately, the girls were cornered, and were only rescued by the timely intervention of Astrid's father Malcolm, who turned magic on the men to rescue his daughter. After making sure Astrid was okay, Malcolm turned his attention to Marielle, who begged him not to tell the Templars about her, as she was afraid they would kill her like they killed her mother. Malcolm, pitying the girl and knowing she was in danger of possession, agreed to take her in and train her along with his younger daughter Bethany, on the condition that she never use blood magic again. Marielle agreed to his terms, and she was taken into the Hawke family. Marielle grew to love her new family as if they were her own. She became quite close with Astrid and especially Bethany, Leandra always treated her like a daughter, and Malcolm taught her everything he knew about magic. Her relationship with Carver was always rather strained, as he resented having yet ''another ''mage to protect, especially one who wasn't technically a part of the family. Still, at Astrid's urging, he always treated her with some degree of kindness. After Malcolm died, Astrid was made the head of the family, and Marielle took on the responsibility of continuing to hide and hone hers and Bethany's magic. She grew a little frustrated with Astrid, who had taken to drinking to cope with the burden of running the family and protect her sisters, and there were many arguments between the two as a result. When the Blight became a threat, Carver and a reluctant Astrid enlisted in King Cailan's army. Marielle was left at home to take care of Bethany and Leandra, and was the only reason why Astrid agreed to join the army at all. A few weeks later, Astrid stumbled through the door supporting Carver, who had a bad leg wound. The battle at Ostagar had gone horribly, and Astrid and Carver had barely escaped with their lives. They healed up Carver as best they could before fleeing their home. In-game Post-game She leaves Kirkwall and heads across the Free Marches with Fenris. They spend quite a few years together bashing in slaver heads and protecting people displaced by the fighting. She never gets involved with the Inquisition, leaving that to Astrid. When Bethany manages to sneak her a letter about Astrid's imprisonment, she insists on travelling to Weisshaupt to aid her sisters in an escape. Category:Non-protagonist Category:Mage Category:Merrill Romance Category:TheCookieAlchemist